Circus Shinobi
by Dream-Flutist
Summary: The Kyubi attack caused Uzumaki-Namikaze Kushina's death, Namikaze Minato's deppression, and their son Naruto's disapearence. Eight years later, a mysterious Uzumaki refugee circus comes to town, and attention is focused on the young, blond, Uzumaki Nao.
1. Kushina's Circus

**You know, I 'm probably going to get yelled at for doing this, but, I'm starting a new story! ^^! It all started with the Cirque Du Soleil and the rest is history, as they say. I'll have you know I put blood, sweat and tears to make this chapter as long as possible for you, so I'd better not get any bitching about the length.**

* * *

_Kushina's Circus_

_Chapter 1_

* * *

Nao cringed. He'd missed the trapeze by a centimeter, _again_!

He hit the netting below him with a grunt.

"Nao, do it again! You premier tonight!"

_'Yeah, I know.'_ He thought. But couldn't say. No, he'd never said a word, and apparently never would.

Nao had been with the circus for as long as he could remember. Also, he'd never been able to talk. The scars on his neck showed something had happened, but no one was sure what. Ringmaster-sama said he believed Naruto was burned during some fire in which his parents were killed.

The mute boy tried the stunt again. And hit netting again. But he was getting better, his fingers just bushing the pole before he fell to the abused net below.

"Ringmaster-sama, maybe you should let Nao-kun take a little break. He won't get be any use to anyone if he can't stay awake during the performance." Aya said.

Aya was Nao's one friend. All the other performers had decided a long time ago that they just didn't like him. But Naruto only needed one person.

With a nod of confirmation, the tall, imposing man that was Ringmaster-sama left the tent.

"Come on, Nao-kun; let's go get some dinner, then you can try again a few more times."

* * *

Minato sighed and ran a hand through his hair. There was a circus in Konoha, and it had been heck trying to convince his shinobi that they could give up a training ground for a week. They, simply put, felt that they couldn't train anywhere else. But, civilians would want access to the attraction; therefore, it couldn't be too far away from the main city, and that particular training ground was perfect.

The Hokage glanced out the large windows in his office. The circus had decided that he would get the VIP seat, free of charge, and he felt obligated to go. Not because of the special seating, no, but because the majority of the performers were refugee Uzumaki. Like Kushina.

'_Kushina…'_ She'd been killed the same day he should've. But, for some reason, he hadn't died. Kushina died, he lived, and his son disappeared. _'I'm very lonely, aren't I?'_

Someone knocked on the door. "Enter."

A woman entered. She had boyishly cut hair, wore fairly simple clothes, and looked to be in her early thirties. A performer with the circus.

"How can I help you, miss?" Minato asked.

The lady bowed. "I have a request, Hokage-sama. I've heard rumors of an Uzumaki that was here in Konoha during the attack on our village. I was wondering if these rumors where true, and, if so, where I could find such person?"

Minato sighed inaudibly. "Uzumaki Kushina. She had been part of our village's shinobi force when that happened… She was a friend of mine." He chuckled at some memories that popped up, but quickly sobered. _'She's not around anymore, but… at least I have memories…' _"She died during the Kyūbi attack on our village, which I presume you've heard about."

_'Kushina? Wasn't she Kyūbi's jinchūriki? It escaped?'_ "How? How exactly did Kushina-imōto die?"

"We…" Minato faltered. He hadn't had to talk about this in awhile. "We're not sure exactly what killed here—childbirth, attack from the Kyūbi, or a fūinjutsu."

"She had a kid? Where're they at?"

"What is your name?"

"Aya, Hokage-sama. I'm Uzumaki Aya."

"Aya-san, her son disappeared the day he was born. We've searched high and low for that boy, and found not hair or hide of him."

Aya got the feeling there was something she was missing. Then, it dawned on her. The Hokage spoke with emotion when speaking of Kushina and the woman's boy. "Are you… Are you her husband?"

She received a slow nod in return. It hurt Minato to talk about this. _'This man won Kushina-imōto's heart? He must be something else.'_ "I'm sorry, Hokage-sama." She quickly left the office.

* * *

"Minato, get out of your emo-corner. It's time to go to the circus." Jiraiya sighed. Minato had been in a crummy mood since one of the performers had asked about Kushina. The topic was taboo with Minato. Just mention the name Uzumaki and he got jittery. Now, he had had a whole conversation about her. Not good, not good.

Minato glared at his sensei. "You have a bad habit of making things worse, you know?"

"So I've been told." Jiraiya responded, sarcastically.

Minato growled. Jiraiya's sarcastic responses had always been annoying, and he just wasn't in the mood to put up with it. "I'm coming. Just shut up."

Jiraiya rolled his eyes at his student's 'antics'. "Come on, kid. Let's go."

Jiraiya received a glare that could out due any Uchiha any day.

* * *

"And now, premiering tonight, for you, is Uzumaki Nao, on the trapeze!"

The applause sounded. The ringmaster bowed and stepped out of the makeshift ring. A light was positioned to point towards a platform, high above the audience.

On said platform was a young boy, maybe eight. His body was small and lithe like a fox, and seemed fairly confident. But, of all things about the boy, it was his bright, blond hair that struck everyone. Minato even caught a few shinobi glance from Nao to him a few times.

Suddenly, Hyūga Hiashi was in the box, panting slightly.

"Hokage-sama! The Hyūga have noticed something strange about this boy. He has chakra capacities of a Jōnin!" Hiashi whispered harshly. "He is registered as a civilian, but his chakra capacity is way too large to be a simple civilan!"

The man stopped to glance at the boy who was doing a complicated maneuver. When he completed it, he broke out into a huge grin that covered half his face. He easily slipped into the next part of his routine.

"What are you saying, Hyūga?" Minato hissed.

"I think… That that kid might be a… I think Jinchūriki is the word you used, no?"

"Impossible."

"No, not impossible. The Kyūbi is unaccounted for in the Jinchūriki ranks."

"Then he would have to be my son."

"Brat, do you doubt that?" Jiraiya suddenly piped up from his seat next to the Hokage. "He's got hair just like you."

Minato just hissed. But, he knew there was logic in such a thought. Such a shade of blonde hair belonged to Namikaze and Namikaze only. Not even a Yamanaka could compare. "ANBU!" He hissed out and immediately two guards where in front of him. "I want a background check on Uzumaki Nao before this show is over, clear?"

"Hai!" They barked and shunshined away.

"Minato, once again, get out of that damn emo-corner you're in. You're doing nobody any good when you snap at them for just looking at you wrong." Jiraiya was obviously annoyed with Minato. "You can be worse than an Uchiha when you want to be."

Minato just shuddered at the thought of being compared to an_ Uchiha_…

The boy continued with his routine. After a complicated series of flips, twists, and flies through the air, the boy stood back on the platform, and with a bow, he quickly climbed down the ladder that had brought him up.

At first, no one clapped. Then, suddenly, slowly, people started clapping. Many stood and cheered.

* * *

"Nao-kun! You did it! That was amazing!" Aya continued to dose Nao in praise and rewards, oblivious to the young boy's silent please.

Finally, Nao kicked her in the shin. Aya yelped and looked at him. "What was that for?" Nao's motions immediately got her attention. "You want to write?" Nao nodded in confirmation.

Aya quickly reached into the pouch on her belt and pulled out a pen and a piece of paper. She handed it to Nao, who nodded in thanks.

_"I mest up a couple of times looking at the audience, especilay the Hokage."_ Nao wrote.

"Silly boy, it's m-e-s-s-e-d, not m-e-s-t, and especially is spelled e-s-p-e-c-i-a-l-l-y. And besides, even if you did mess up, you got that tricky part down pat!"

_"Thanks, Aya-nee."_

Just then, the ringmaster walked into the small changing room that Aya and Nao were in.

"Great job, boy! Your premier went great! They want you back out there!" He chuckled. _'Imagine how much money I could bring in with him…'_ "Curtain call is up in ten! Be ready, you two!"

"Hai, Ringmaster-sama!" Aya chirped. The imposing man that was Ringmaster-sama left. "Nao-kun, you got praised by Ringmaster-sama! That's, like, the best ever!" She was grinning like a madwoman.

_'Something doesn't feel right…'_ Nao thought. He shrugged it off. _'Oh well. Aya-nee will take care of me! Hey, I rhymed!' _The mischievous boy giggled silently.

"Alright, whatever you're up to will have to wait. Time for curtain call!"

* * *

Minato narrowed his eyes at the report. Apparently, the boy was an orphan. He'd been adopted into the Uzumaki Circus Troupe when he was but a few days old. The boy known as Uzumaki Nao was mute, his vocal cords destroyed before he was adopted.

He'd trained to be a trapeze artist since he could walk without losing balance. But that was where it ended.

"I want a DNA test, stat. I want to know who the hell this kid is." Minato ordered the ANBU. "Don't come back until you've got answers. Clear?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama!" The ANBU headed off to do what they were ordered.

"Inu!" The Hokage snapped out

In an instant, another ANBU was in front of Minato. "Reporting, sensei."

"I want you to follow that boy, Uzumaki Nao. Understood?"

"Yup!"

"Now!" Minato hissed. Inu left—but not without his customary two-fingered salute.

"Minato! For the last time, don't kill your subordinates! Get out of your funk! If you need to release stress, go beat up a tree or something, not the ANBU!" Jiraiya hissed.

The show continued on in front of them. There were animals in the ring. Neither man was paying attention.

Minato sighed. "You're right." He held his head in his hands. "I'll apologize when they report next."

_'Kushina is still an open wound with him. Just being here is like dumping salt on it.' _"That's a bit better. Now, this show is almost over. When this is over, we're going to spar. Got it?"

"Hai, sensei." Minato smiled slightly. _'Leave it up to sensei to do something like that…'_

The ringmaster was back out. One after another the performers followed, bowing. There were many, about half of them were the refugee Uzumaki. The rest were other people who could not make a living and had some talent that a circus would want—from costume designs to extreme flexibility.

* * *

"Who are you?" Aya eyed the three figures in front of her warily. They wore porcelain animal masks and black cloaks.

"Miss, we are ANBU. We're under direct orders from Hokage-sama. You needn't worry." The one with a dog mask replied.

"And why should I believe you?"

Nao quickly wrote something on his paper and handed it to Aya. She read aloud, in a mummer: "I believe them. Why would they lie? We aren't important." Aya chuckled. "I guess you're right, gaki." She turned to the black-cloaked figures. "What do you want?"

"We," The one in a bird mask said, "Are here to get a blood sample from… Nao-kun, was it?" The young boy nodded. "And Inu is here to… observe. No harm, see?"

"Fine… But so help me; if you hurt him you'll be sorry…"

"I'm sure we will. Unfortunately, from experience, it's hard to get blood without a bit of pain. Gomen." Bird said.

_"I'll be fine, Aya-nee."_ Nao wrote out. Aya nodded slightly. She didn't know what a simple blood test would do to her Nao-kun's future.

* * *

**Okay, before someone yells at me for some misspelled words, check and see if they're Nao's writing. He's eight, he'll misspell words!**

**Thanks for reading, and reviews would be appretiated!**

**D-F**


	2. Contortion

**Yo! I'm back- with a new chapter.  
****Okay, to the anonymous reviewer Cynicism:  
**Thank you _sooo_ much for your review. I _loved_ it. Unfortunatly for whatever genius, perfect eight year olds you know, I'm going off of personal experiance. And, in my experiance helping younger kids in the six-to-eight year old range, they misspell words, a lot. I know _I_, a eighth-grader, misspell words all the time. Also, don't you think I've made him genius enough? I mean, he's in the cirqus and has managed to learn to read and write. And I do try to 'flesh out my chapters', but I've never been good at it. Just don't look at my _other _stories- one chapter is only about a thousand words. And I'm sooo glad I'm a not-exactly-bad writer, otherwise I oughta give back all the awards I've won.

**I hope this chapter is satasfactory.**

* * *

Contortion

Chapter 2

* * *

Minato stared at the paper in front of him. His hands were shaking and the ANBU in front of Minato thought he heard a whimper escape the young Hokage's lips. Of course, the ANBU wouldn't say anything. In fact, he couldn't blame the man if he broke down crying.

"Bird!" His voice was still strong and intimidating when he wanted it to be, though. "Call ANBU Inu, Jiraiya of the Sannin to my office immediately, and the rest of the Shinobi Council to the Council Chambers in an hour. Now!" Minato ordered. The ANBU was all too happy to fetch them.

* * *

Bird located the ANBU Inu at the circus—he was still watching Uzumaki Nao. He was quickly told that he was to be at the Hokage Tower ASAP. In other words, now, and that Jiraiya of the Sannin would be there.

Speaking of Jiraiya, he was in the middle of his… research… when the ANBU appeared next to him. Jiraiya immediately vacated the area, the ANBU right behind. When he was a safe distance away, he turned and asked, "What the heck does the Hokage want _now_?"

"It would be wise for you to head to his office immediately. ANBU Inu is on his way already."

Jiraiya was halfway to the Hokage Tower by the time Bird finished his second sentence.

* * *

"Nao! Get out of bed! Breakfast is ready!" Aya called. A grunt was heard, and a bedraggled, sleepy Nao staggered out of the small, makeshift room in the small tent that he shared with Aya. He sat down at the small table and waited for his food to be put in front of him. "Really? Get your lazy but up and come get your food." Another wordless grunt and Nao was making his way over to Aya to get his plate. "That's better, gaki. Finish up quick and head to the warm-up tent. From what I hear, Ringmaster-sama seems very impressed by your performances. I hear he's gonna give ya some money." Once again ranting, Aya missed the young boy's frantic gestures. That was, of course, until he kicked the young woman's shin. "Ouch! What was that for, you ungrateful gaki?"

And she noticed his pleading motions.

"Oh. Sorry." She grinned sheepishly and stood to get the kid's writing pad and pencil. After grabbing it from the top of a broken bookshelf, she handed it to him. "Here, kiddo. Enjoy."

_"Thanks." _Nao quickly jotted down.

* * *

"Kid, this better be what I think it is." Jiraiya stood next to an unmasked Kakashi—AKA Inu— in the Hokage office. "If it's no, you're in a hell of a lot of trouble."

"Minato-sensei took me from a mission. You should know well enough that it is important." Kakashi snapped.

_'How did I end up with those two again? I blame the Third if I'm crazy before I'm fifty.' _Minato cleared his throat, getting the bickering men's attention. "Here." He flung a folder at Jiraiya, who immediately opened it. It took two minutes for Jiraiya to pass the folder to Kakashi, whom took thirty seconds to drop the folder, eyes wide.

"You found him, sensei, you found him."

"I know, brat."

"Who would've guessed?" Jiraiya chuckled, finding the irony of the situation. "He disappears off the face of the Earth for eight years, but he's been with his mother's family this whole time!"

"Only you, Jiraiya-sensei, only you…" Minato sighed. "Unfortunately, I have no idea where to go from here."

"Go get the kid, explain the situation, and keep him here!" Jiraiya said, as if it was the most obvious thing ever.

"Jiraiya-sensei, you have no tact what-so-ever. That'll just make things awkward, no?"

"It would, sensei." Kakashi agreed. "I think you should talk to someone close to the boy and have them explain the situation to him. He's more likely to believe them, and less likely to take it as a ...cruel joke."

"Sorry sensei. Kakashi's idea it better."

"You hate me, don't you, gaki?"

"Nope. You just have a habit of making things worse, though."

Jiraiya groaned. "I know, don't rub it in."

* * *

Minato stood in front of the large, dark, double doors that lead into the Council chambers. Jiraiya stood to his left, Kakashi to his right.

"You going to be okay, gaki?" Jiraiya cut the silence that had engulfed them since they'd left for the Chambers.

"I hope so, sensei." Minato responded, quietly. He fought to keep his voice from cracking. In his trembling left hand he held a folder with some papers, his right hand hidden in a secret pocket that Kushina had sewn into his cape ong ago. "Well, no use delaying the inevitable."

"I guess so, Hokage-sama." Kakashi replied, already in his formal persona.

The three entered. Many sets of eyes looked startled when he entered, slightly shaking and almost teary-eyed.

"Hokage-sama, what is the meaning of this? There's a meeting scheduled for next week, this couldn't wait?" Fugaku Uchiha, Uchiha clan leader, snapped out.

"No, it couldn't have. I have some news that must be dealt with." Minato took a deep, slightly shuddering, breath. "I've found my son."

* * *

"Nao, boy, here you are!" Ringmaster-sama smiled as a slightly disgruntled Nao entered the warm-up tent. "Great performance. Now, I've got a proposition for you." At the boy's nod, he continued, "How would you like to take some of the young ones from this village on a tour around the grounds?"

_"Whats in it for me?" _Nao wrote. He showed it to the burly man.

"I'll give you some money to go shopping around town. How 'bout it, gaki?" He paused. "And there's an apostrophe between the 't' and the 's' in 'what's'."

_"Thanks. How am I supposed to comunicate?" _Nao stumbled over the word communicate. He'd never liked big words…

"Two 'm's in 'communicate'. You'll only take a few at a time, so they can read what you write."

After a moment of hesitation, Nao wrote _"What's off-limits?"_

* * *

"Sasuke! Come on, we're going to the circus. The ringmaster even said one of the performers is going to give you a tour! Isn't that nice?" Mikoto called to her young son.

Sasuke appeared in the hallway that led to the kitchen. "Whatever."

"That seems like it would be fun, little brother. Get excited once in a while."

"You're one to talk, Itachi." Sasuke grumbled, stepping into the kitchen.

Itachi chuckled slightly. "Come on, let's go. Your guide is waiting. I'll walk you there."

* * *

"Sakura, come on, you're going to be late for the tour!"

"Coming, Mother!" A pink blob came flying down the stairs. She and her mother grabbed their shoes before quickly heading to the circus grounds.

* * *

_'I wonder when they'll be here. Better be soon, or I'm leaving.' _Nao sat on the ground, right outside of the entrance to the big tent.

"Excuse me, young man, do you happen to be the tour guide?"

Nao looked up. A woman with brown hair and soft brown eyes was standing in front of him. Nao quickly stood up and nodded.

"Okay. Sakura-chan, come on, this nice young man is going to show you around." The woman moved and pushed the young girl that had hidden behind her towards Nao.

_"We're waiting for one more person."_ He wrote and handed the paper to the girl. She read it aloud.

"You can't talk?" She asked quietly.

Nao took his paper back. _"Nope!"_ He jotted down.

"Sorry we're late. Sasuke-kun here had some trouble waking up." A new voice said.

A young man came walking up next to the woman. He had black, shiny hair and eyes that hinted that he was laughing. The boy next to him—presumably Sasuke-kun—looked similar. Sasuke gave an indignant squawk.

"No! You just stopped to talk to that shinobi! You liar!"

Nao rolled his eyes. _"Are you two coming, or do I get the joy of taking these two by themselves?"_

"I'm coming." The older boy said.

"If you're staying, Itachi-kun," Itachi cringed at the nickname, "Then I think I can leave. I'll meet you all back here in an hour and a half, okay?" She received a nod in conformation.

Nao flipped his page and wrote in large, sloppy letters _"Follow me, and don't get lost."_

* * *

"That's amazing!" Sakura was staring at three Uzumaki girls who were flipping and twisting around the warm up ring.

"Itachi can do that. That's simple for a shinobi."

_"What makes it impressive is that none of us have any sort of shinobi background. We're all civilians._" Nao wrote, and then showed to Itachi, who read it out loud. "It does indeed, Nao-kun."

"Blondie, do you perform?" Sasuke asked.

_"Yes, I'm on the trapeze."_

"Wow! Nao-kun, can you show us?" Sakura… Swooned? What the heck!

Nao gave a reluctant nod. _"Don't move from here. It's my ass that's fried if you do."_

After gaining an affirmative nod from everyone, he headed to the trapeze. The three girls that Sakura had been impressed with paused and checked the netting below him, then walked over next to the small tour group.

"Nao is amazing up there. Our last trapeze artist wasn't half as good, and he was twenty!" The shortest one told them. They paused to watch the boy start.

"Does he ever fall?" Sasuke asked.

"Of course. We all do. We're only civilians. Most of us would never be able to be shinobi."

"A shinobi like Itachi wouldn't fall." Sasuke bragged to the girls.

"Actually," Itachi said softly, staring at the boy on the trapeze who was executing a seemingly very complicated maneuver, "I would fall quite a bit. And I'm certainly not that flexible. A shinobi's movements are meant to waste not a single drop of energy, and get the job done, whatever it may be. His movements are meant to be flashy. There is little consideration for energy used up. In this case, the job is to defy gravity, get your attention, impress you. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Itachi-san, that's the most you've said since I've met you." Sakura said.

The six figures watched Nao finish up the routine and come back to the ground. He jogged over to them as if what he'd just done was as easy as pie. After quickly collecting his writing pad and pencil, he turned to them and motioned for them to follow._ "We have a tour to finish."_

* * *

"Are you sure about this, Hokage-sama?" Yamanaka Inoichi asked.

"Actually, I'm _not_ sure. I still can't believe this isn't a dream." Minato ran a hand through his hair, a nervous habit he seemed to be acquiring. "But if DNA isn't enough, Yamanaka-san, Hyūga-san would be glad to state his evidence."

"I'm listening."

Hiashi quickly started talking. "Many members of the Hyūga noticed an insane amount of chakra in his system—too much for even the normal Jōnin. On top of that, there were two types of chakra, a normal one and a red one. Double chakra is a phenomenon found only in a jinchūriki. The only jinchūriki unaccounted for is the Kyūbi, which Hokage-sama's son would be." Hiashi smiled slightly. "And have you seen the boy's hair?"

Chuckles resounded at the Clan head's humor. It was a common thing to tease the Hokage on his hair color.

"Fine. What's your course of action, Hokage-sama?" Inoichi asked.

"I'm going to ask a performer I've met about who he is close to, and talk to them. Course of action will be decided from there."

"Sounds good. If this meeting is done, I'd like to go home." Uchiha Fugaku requested.

"One last thing—you ten are the only people to know about this. Unless I say otherwise and I'm in my right mind when doing so, nothing of his jinchūriki status leaves this room. Understood?"

"Hai!"

It was settled. Namikaze Naruto had been found.

* * *

**Yipee, done! **

**Warning- I know for an almost fact that this story is going to get dark. Just be warned.**


End file.
